cindy's world

(GREAT movie, by the way. LOVE that movie.)

If Mr. W gets his way, this will soon be our backyard:

We drove around and looked at houses in the above-pictured area on Sunday. Many properties are within our price range, the area is extremely nice and upscale, and the people there are freakishly nice. I watched a teenage boy with his girlfriend thank a driver as he crossed the street in a parking area and the driver stopped to let the boy and his girlfriend cross in front of him. Whoa. Where am I, in Hawaii? Where are people this laid back in Southern California? Incidentally, this area is ranked as the #1 safest city in the US by the FBI, to give curious people a tiny little clue. I don’t want to say where or make any announcements in case I jinx anything.

But hey, great area, affordable for us, it’s like being at the ocean without the nasty beachside cities or freezing temperatures, and okay, it’s far from work, but if we figure out a way to carpool it’ll be quality bonding time on the road!

This is what’s called a cheap cop-out post, friends. I admit it. I don’t have much drama to write about because the biggest dilemma in my life right now is whether to cut 30 people off my wedding invite list so that I can save $3000 to make my budget. I was talking to college roommie/bridesmaid Diana about this yesterday and she said 30 people is a lot to cut. So I floated the question: assuming I get a bartending job that brings home $300 in tips each night I work, how many nights would I have to work to pay for these 30 people? Diana said ASSUMING I could get that much in tips, I would have to work 30 days, because $300 pays for 3 people. And then I felt like “Schindler’s List” and had to stop. “This lapel pin…if I sold this lapel pin, 7 more people.”

WAIT a minute. I just realized she did the math wrong. If I bring home $300/night, and that’s 3 people, then I only have to work 10 days to bring home $3000 for 30 people. I can bust my ass for 10 nights. Or sell my ass on the side. Or, just sell my ass, period.

I am making WAY too many prostitution fundraiser jokes.

Okay, now the cop-out part of this post, today’s lawyer joke left on my desk:
Attorneys Jones and Smith were arguing over whether sex was work or pleasure. Being unable to reach an agreement, they decided they would ask their paralegal to decide the issue.
Upon explaining the question to their paralegal, she thought for a moment before responding, “Why, it is definitely all pleasure.”
Smith, who’d felt it was work, asked, “But how can you say that so quickly?”
The paralegal just smiled and replied, “Why, that’s easy. If there were any work involved, you’d have me do it for you.”

I’ve been looking for a clip of Brian McKnight singing Luther Vandross’s “Never Too Much” since I went to the Brian McKnight/Boyz II Men concert and watched Brian sing as a tribute to Luther while the original black and white video of Luther singing his song played in the background. Here it finally is. I think this song is a wedding must-have.

Never Too Much Lyrics

Hee hee! Guess what I signed up for today! Bartending classes! I’ve always loved playing with liquids and enjoyed mixology, plus I’m often the one playing with and inventing drinks at friends’ parties, anyway. When I see a full bar all colorful on display, I actually feel a twinge of excitement. I used to get that sensation when I stepped into the library as a child. How things have changed.

I’d been throwing around the idea for awhile, but last week when I was talking to Gym Trainee about it, she said she’d always loved playing with cocktail concoctions, too, and offered to take the class with me. By the next day she told me that her sister had offered to care for her son on the nights we have class, and that she’s definitely in. That was all the encouragement I needed! I am so excited.

At the conclusion of the course, we get a certificate, which I believe permits me to be legally hired as a bartender. Not only is it good side money (and pretty brainless, I imagine), I can offer to bartend for all the house parties that my friends/coworkers have. How cool to have a legal bartender among our midst! I hope that bartending gigs have REALLY flexible hours, cuz I don’t want to work every nite. Everyone I’ve talked to who used to bartend or who has kids who bartend have nothing but good things to say about the experience.

Mr. W is going to kick my ass.

It was freezing last night. My nose got all cold from having to breathe the chilly air so I ended up sleeping with my head all the way inside the covers.

I’ve learned to watch my audience when I complain of cold, though. I’m not just thinking about the people in snowy Minneapolis or sub-zero Chicago rolling their eyes at me (“It’s cold you say? What is it, like SEVENTY over there in Southern California?”), even people in Northern California, like my college roommie Diana, have to put temperature in a separate category for me. Like when I asked her whether our friend Jimmy’s upcoming outdoors wedding in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco is going to be cold. Her reply was, “It’s been sunny and really nice out lately. But yeah, cold for YOU. YOU should bring a warm coat and scarf.”

Is it any wonder my young cousin Mark (with the same quirky family genes as me) who lives in Toronto, Canada would have this IM conversation with me?

Mark: 😀
So it’s snowing out here… and I know you don’t know what that is. It’s basically this white cold solid that comes in flakes. It’s not quite ice but it’s not water either. It’s very annoying to drive on.
Also, it’s quite cold outside.
me: but who MAKES the solid into flakes?
Mark: God?
If you believe in that, otherwise, natural fluctuations in temperature.
me: fluctuations in temperature?
why would the temperature fluctuate?
is there a giant a/c unit outside?
Mark: No no, through natural changes
me: nature doesn’t change!
Mark: yes it does!
everything changes!
me: Okay, I know what’s going on.
Your dad thought it was funny to put all these ideas in your head, liks Santa and Toothfairies and weather changes and stuff.
it’s NOT TRUE.
you’re old enough to know now.
Mark: HAHAHAHA
SANTA IS REAL.
!!!
Hey how often does it actually snow where you are?
me: never.
It hailed once when I was 7, and then again when I was like 15, then really briefly again I think I was 22.
Mark: Wowzers
I had a feeling it was perhaps once in every 5-10 years if ever
me: that’s hail, not snow.
Mark: Oh, nevre snows?
hail as in ice pellets?
me: right.
Mark: Well that’s why all you Californians are crazy…
we all know snow is a natural sedative.
a healthy diet includes exposure to 25% snow a year.
I should export some snow to you
me: box it up and mail it on over!

Yesterday evening, maid-of-honor Vicky (yes, I’ve decided recently she’s my maid-of-honor; she’s more than earned it. Didja read all my past Las Tunas and Chinatown trauma she guided me through?) came by with her boyfriend Glenn and the three of us went out to a local sushi joint for dinner. After returning to my house, Glenn proceeded to take apart my living room’s vertical blinds to see if he could replace the broken clip on one panel. He soon discovered that the system was made in the late 70s and the parts I’ve purchased don’t fit in the old system. GAH! He was a good sport and reassembled everything, put it back up in the window, and advised me to buy a new blind system. After checking the blinds upstairs in the bedrooms, he found they were the same old system, so those will all have to be replaced, too. While upstairs, he said my ceiling damage from the leaks actually aren’t that bad and that they can be repatched very inexpensively, so I don’t have to hire an expensive ceiling repair guy or put a claim into my homeowner’s insurance. Great! With his prior experience managing multiple apartment homes, he recommended some products and even offered to come help patch the ceilings once my external roof is replaced. Looks like Vicky’s dating life has finally paid off for me. Haha!

(Today I told Mr. W about Glenn’s blind discoveries and Mr. W said he already knew that the pieces were not compatible cuz he’d already looked at it. Well, why didn’t he tell me?!)

Afterward the free inspection, we hung out and chatted in the living room, when something someone said sparked the memory that I have video tape footage of Vicky when we were in 8th grade. I busted it out, popped it in the VCR, and I watched Glenn’s amused smile looking at his whiny girlfriend more than 15 years back in time. Bridesmaid Sandy is in our 8th grade graduation video, too! I threatened to play it at my wedding. One thing we all noticed is how incredibly tan we were as pre-teens. Of course there was the daily P.E. class and playing outdoors and swimming, but man, adult office life has done nothing for our tans.

Now I need to find some embarrassing video footage of bridemaid Diana from the late 80s. Heh heh heh!

Diana introduced me to this blog, called “Stuff White People Like.” It appears to be written tongue-in-cheek with a slight self-deprecating tone; clearly a white guy who can laugh at himself and not take cultural chasms too seriously. Many of his commenters, however, could benefit from removing the stick from their anal orifices.

This post addressing Asian women as #11 of stuff white people like, is funny because it rings true. See for yourself!

You know what sucks ass? My judge is on jury duty, IN THE BUILDING upstairs, so he’s around still doing some work in chambers which I’ll probably have to process. But because we’re technically “dark” (meaning the judge is unavailable and the courtroom is not open to receive cases today), administration wants to send me to Compton in the afternoon to sit in on a criminal jury trial. You’re telling me that in the entire West district where Compton courthouse is, there is not anyone who is available to babysit a trial for one afternoon, that they have to send someone from NORWALK? ARGH.

Now that that’s out of the way, Mr. W and I had a productive enough weekend. Saturday, at our wedding food tasting (all the food you can eat and champagne/sake cocktails you can drink!) we pretty much decided our wedding menu. We’re considering ordering a hosted sake bar for the reception, and coming up with a signature east-meets-west cocktail drink. I’d never had sake cocktails before now and they’re DELISH! After the food tasting we went to our wedding cake bakery and ordered our cake. It fits perfectly with our theme, and will be 3 round tiers of chocolate cake layer+amaretto bavarian creme+light streak of raspberry jam+white cake layer. I know it sounds funny, but it tasted good and was a good compromise for us. If our guests don’t like it, whatever. Fill up on the food and alcohol.

Sunday, we had dim sum brunch with our realtor and his wife (who are close and old family friends of mine) and then the wife went home while the three of us did concentrated house-hunting. The houses are increasing in quality, but my favorite were two Chino Hills homes with beautiful entertainment backyards. One has a view of rolling green hills right beyond the yard that you wouldn’t believe is in overpopulated Southern California. I love the flowy layout of that house, too. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that one, but won’t let my hopes soar too high since recently, everything we really liked was GONE the day after we saw it.

And then we went to my parents’ and had dinner there, telling my parents about our househunting adventures, showing them online photos of a few of the ones we saw. My mom is blown away by the high price of housing these days, but such is life. And the decline of the almighty American dollar.

* House-hunting is getting old and making us feel poor.
* I booked our venue wedding coordinator consultation and our venue rehearsal, and tomorrow we’re attending the food-tasting to pick our meals.
* Today I received my order of more face powder and 3 eyeshadows from Sephora; starting tomorrow everything on my face will be Bare Escentuals and the switchover will be complete.
* We’re on Week 1 of Phase 2 in the psycho workout routine, both I and my gym trainee are looking the best we’ve looked since we can remember, and I was very proud of her when she told me she’s decided to wear a racer-back tanktop dress this weekend to visit her cousins in San Diego to “show off” her toned arms (since we did upper body today).
* I finally got to select vacation days for this year, and I got the week after my friend Jimmy’s upcoming Sunday wedding off so we can take our time coming back from Northern California after his wedding, BUT I didn’t have enough seniority to even make the WAIT LIST for the week of my own wedding. >:-(
* Dodo’s being a good sport in letting me brush some clumps out of his fur this week, altho it seemed somewhat painful, and he’s stopped jumping into the shower to lap up leftover bathwater in the mornings.
* The Association finally signed and mailed back the roofer’s contract this week, and I received an email from the roofer saying he hopes to start work around March 10; I was afraid to tell him my Association neighbors are asses and all still refuse to pay their contribution toward the repairwork.
* At Mr. W’s house without a TV in his bedroom and being unable to watch TV in the living room w/o disturbing his son who’s sleeping in the upstairs loft overlooking the living room, I am unable to fall asleep (obviously).